Making My Good Life

Every summer when I was little, my family would take a long road trip to go visit all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. My siblings and I always knew we were close when we crossed the Platte River and went under a big green sign that read, “Nebraska… the good life.” We all cheered mostly because we were nearing our destination and would be able to get out of the car and away from each other, but also because we were in one of our favorite places and would soon see some of our favorite people.

I have carried those memories, and that motto, with me ever since. It has become so important to me to be in a place that is good. Not perfect, not flashy, not the biggest place or the wealthiest place, maybe not even the happiest place, but a good place. A place to build a life with my favorite things and my favorite people.

In 2021, I was living in Washington D.C. Living what was supposed to be my dream. I was living in a nice apartment, I had a good job, and I was in grad school in my dream program. I really had it all and yet I hated it all. I wasn’t satisfied and I knew that what I was looking to build my life around would not fulfill me like I needed. So I decided to leave it all. People say that following your dreams is hard, but I think leaving them is way harder. Following your dreams, there’s a plan, there’s a vision. When you decide to leave that plan, you’re in free fall.

When I was falling, I came back to that principal of a good life. For me, that meant choosing a community that I love and surrounding myself with my favorite people. Now it means working to live, not living to work. It means filling up my Sunday notebook, wearing matching pajama sets, reading a book in a day, holding all of my baby cousins, Friday game nights playing Mexican train dominoes with my friends, and wearing red on Husker game days. For me, it means Nebraska. But really, it means being in a place that feels like it’s where you belong whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

For a long time, I looked down on people who stayed where they grew up or people who never “got out.” I still do think it’s important to get out of your comfort zone and see the world, but who am I to tell you what your good place is? Mine is living in Lincoln, Nebraska, but still going and traveling and seeing new places. I need the adventure and the comfort of a home I love, with people I love. I need to live in a place that I can make beautiful and fill with my favorite things. This is my life now, this is what I’m making, and believe me, it is good.